Linux on the Sony VAIO R505JL
Author: Jordan Ritter <jpr5@darkridge.com>
Last updated: December 13, 2002
Hardware Summary
| CPU | Intel Pentium III 750MHz
| | RAM | 128M (384M max)
| | Hard disk | Toshiba MK1517GAP 15G, UDMA(100) (PIIX4)
| | Display | 12.1" XGA TFT (4M)
| | Display Chipset | Intel 82815 CGC
| | Audio Chipset | Intel 82820 (Camino 2)
| | Ethernet Chipset | Intel 82820 (ICH2)
| | Modem Chipset | Intel 82820 (Camino 2)
| | USB Chipset | Intel 82820 (Camino 2)
| | IEEE 1394 | Texas Instruments
| | Cardbus Bridge | Ricoh Co Ltd RL5c475
| | IrDA | N/A
|
| |
Linux Compatibility Summary
| Software
| | Kernel | 2.4.19
| | Distribution | RedHat Linux 7.2
| | Hardware
| | Video | Yes | SVGA driver
| | Ethernet | Yes | eepro100 (becker), e100 (intel)
| | Sound | Yes | kernel i8xx driver
| | APM | No | ACPI BIOS
| | ACPI | Somewhat | Immature ACPI support
| | Suspend to DISK | No | ACPI BIOS
| | Suspend to RAM | No | ACPI BIOS, missing function key
| | USB | Yes | UHCI
| | IEEE 1394 | Yes | OHCI1394, RAW1394, SBP2
| | Jog-Dial | Yes | /dev/sonypi
| | Memory Stick | Yes | /dev/sda
| | Modem | Yes | HSF modem
| | IrDA | No | No IR Device present
| | Slimdock Floppy | Yes | /dev/fd0
| | Slimdock DVD-ROM | Yes | /dev/sr0
|
|
Foreword
This document describes Linux support for the Sony VAIO PCG-R505JL.
Other variants of the R505J* series may or may not be equivalent to
the information provided herein. Besides differing CPU speeds/Disk
capacities, I imagine that the variants have pretty much the same
configuration. Please note: this document is not an installation FAQ;
if you are seeking help with installing Linux, first think twice, then
get thee to a standard Linux distribution and accompanying
installation documents.
Notes
All in all, I like the R505JL. I also own a Z505HS, and compared to
that the R505JL is a beautiful design, and the slimdock is pretty
slick. This time around, Sony seems to be opting for the
multi-function chipsets Intel has been producing for mainboards these
days -- apparently one chipset, the Intel ICH (I/O Controller Hub),
can now handle modem, audio, video, USB, ethernet, and IDE services.
Neat.
Right off the bat, pluses:
- Wrist surface is less prone to sweat stains (you long-time
laptop users know what I'm talking about)
- Better placement of power button
- Better placement of PCMCIA port (right-hand side, middle of
system)
- Jog-dial is in a more convenient place
- Built-in monitor port (without replicator)
- MemoryStick fully supported by USB/SCSI drivers
- Memory DIMM from Z505* (at least the Z505HS) is compatible
- Slimdock is pretty neat
- A supported built-in modem
Minuses:
- NO WAY TO SUSPEND THE LAPTOP IN LINUX
- SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS DO NOT WORK (Ext. CRT, Volume, etc)
- Rubber-cap-style cover over RJ11 and RJ45 ports is
completely retarded
- Jog-dial location might be inconvenient for users who use the
trackpad with their thumbs
- Very odd timeout issues with Donald Becker's eepro100 driver
on this particular built-in ethernet card, when used on
certain hubs and switches
- Accompanying hard-copy documentation is designed to apply to
the various models, and has some crappy inconsistencies /
gotchas
- Slimdock might be a PITA for people used to the smaller
expansion cable/bar thingy
- Floppy stops working after an undock/redock, requiring a
reboot to get it back
The biggest disappointment by far, one that I note is really hidden
from prospective buyers, is the lack of a linux-supported hardware
suspend-to-memory feature. This comes from the complete drop of APM
support, in favor of ACPI. Besides the missing functionality,
previous Sony VAIO owners will note that the "Suspend-to-Memory"
symbol is conspicuously missing from the Esc key (while the
"Suspend-to-Disk" key isn't), casting doubt as to whether the feature
was even intended to exist (though the hard-copy manual claims Fn-Esc
will suspend the laptop).
So, beware: if you're a user who absolutely must be able to
suspend your system, don't buy this model of laptop.
Distribution
In terms of installing Linux, doing an FTP install of RedHat Linux
7.2 went off without a hitch. Download the bootnet.img
image, dd it to a floppy, and boot your system from the slimdock
floppy. The installation didn't seem comfortable using the GUI (X11)
installer, but text mode sufficed just fine.
See the online RedHat documentation for more information.
XFree86
Fortunately, from RHL7.2 the XFree86 installation also went off
without a hitch. Anaconda correctly detected all the right settings
and output the proper XF86Config-4 file (note the filename).
The only modification I had to make was to switch the caps lock with
the control key:
Section "Input Device"
...
Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"
...
EndSection
Or just simply get rid of the useless caps lock altogether:
Section "Input Device"
...
Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:nocaps"
...
EndSection
Floppy Drive
The floppy drive works normally, as it should, but with two caveats:
you must start up while docked in order to use the floppy, and if you
undock and re-dock, support for the floppy drive will be lost until
you reboot.
Networking
The ethernet chipset bundled with the R505JL is supported by the
Donald Becker's Intel EtherExpress Pro/100 driver (the slimdock is
just a passthru, not another ethernet device). However, Becker's
eepro100 driver does appear to have timeout issues when connected
directly to certain switches and hubs (3Com OfficeConnect 10bt hub is
one of them, while the LinkSys 10/100bt hub is not). I believe these
issues may be related to N-Way autonegotiation, but I'm not sure.
If you experience these problems, you can try using the latest Intel e100
driver (version 2.1.6 at the time of this writing), which is
available in source form and is a loadable kernel module.
Modem
Much to my surprise, I came across a post
on the Linux-Sony
mailing list claiming that a modem driver had arrived.
Now, all /proc information and linux kernel output would indicate that
the modem functionality is being handled by a different chipset, but I
decided to try anyway.
And, well, it works. A softmodem in Linux, imagine that. :-)
The link provided is not always up, so try this locally cached copy
instead. It may not be the most recent version, but it does work.
Audio
If you enable the in-kernel "Intel ICH (i8xx)" driver, you'll have
sound. The default sound-level for the laptop is almost inaudible,
though, and contrary to the accompanying hard-copy documentation
raising the volume does NOT appear to work using the combination
Fn-Vol and the Up and Down arrow keys. In other words, use CLI
software like aumix, or one of the gnome applets to fix.
As a side note, artsd (sound daemon) under stock KDE 2.x seems to have
serious issues with the sound device -- basically, artsd just dies
after pegging the CPU at 100%. I haven't figured out why yet.
However, this problem is gone with KDE 3.x. If you're a KDE user, I
highly recommend upgrading anyway, since KDE 3.x has a ton of cool new
features.
Memory Stick
Finally, the Sony Memory Stick is fully supported by a stock Linux
kernel. Enable USB Mass Storage support and SCSI generic support, and
voila, working Memory Stick adaptor.
Harddisk Tuning
I've read a lot of other Sony VAIO Linux Installation sites about
tuning the hard disk with hdparm. Quite obviously, by default certain
features one would expect to impact performance don't appear to be
turned on.
However, if "hdparm -tT" is any valid indication of the performance
you can expect from changes, don't bother screwing with it --
there was no perceptible difference in performance between default
settings and fully optimized settings.
In other words, changing performance settings with hdparm in this case
is a farce.
Jog Dial
The jog dial works like a charm, and I think that its new location
between the two mouse buttons is really well-placed.
Be aware though, the kernel driver itself is a little flaky --
sometimes during boot it outputs warnings about failed API calls,
which should be your indication that it's not going to work unless you
reboot. Furthermore, this behaviour seems to be mostly linked to the
laptop being docked vs. undocked, and doesn't appear consistent,
either. Oh well.
S-Jog is by far the coolest
jog utility I've seen yet.
USB
Well, USB detected and fully supported the Sony Memory Stick, so I
think it's a good bet that at least the HID support, which worked
beforehand, still works. It might be useful to check my dmesg output and scan for USB messages.
I have in fact used my system with both a USB keyboard and mouse, so
it verifiably works.
Slimdock DVD-ROM
After a lot of patient waiting, Linux 2.4.19 finally has enough of the
IEEE1394 + SBP-2 stuff sorted out to support a functional DVD-ROM.
It gets installed as a SCSI device named sr0 (mknod /dev/sr0
b 11 0), and appears to work before and after the laptop has been
undocked/re-docked (unlike the floppy). Both DVD's and CD-ROM's work
just fine.
A few caveats:
- If you boot up with the drivers compiled in, you will have to
force the SCSI subsystem to ``rescan the bus'' by issuing a
scsi add-single-device 0 0 0 0 command to
/proc/scsi/scsi. The driver is loaded after the scan
occurs, and doesn't register the device without this command.
- If you boot up with the drivers as modules, you won't
have to issue the command above; it appears to be triggered
automagically.
Visit the
software section of the IEEE 1394 for Linux website
for some cool tools to play around with.
APM vs. ACPI
So Sony dumped APM for ACPI in this laptop, and it's a major bummer
since it isn't obvious to first time buyers (or even third-time buyers
like me) that you're being trapped into a Windows-centric world.
Basic ACPI support in Linux does appear to work, but it's not clear
what to do with it. To set it up, first enable it in your kernel
("General Setup/ACPI Support"), and make sure to enable the "ACPI Bus
Manager" or else it won't work at all. For the VAIO R505JL, enable
all sub-modules ("System", "Processor", "Button", "AC Adapter",
"Embedded Controller", "Control Method Battery", and "Thermal"). You
can turn on "ACPI Debug Statements", but they're rather annoying and
I'll tell you now what the debug statements will show -- ACPI support
on Linux is still extremely lacking.
Oh, BTW, if you have APM enabled anyway, don't type apm
-s; your system will suspend, but it won't wake up
without a cold (no power) reboot. She's dead, Jim.
You also need to download acpid, the ACPI apmd equivalent.
Familiarize yourself with the (sparse) docs. In a nutshell, acpid
appears to catch two events -- "power button" and "lid close". If
someone knows how to tell Linux to go to sleep (ala "apmd -s"-type
functionality), then it should be a rather simple endeavour to enable
suspend. There's probably a way to do it, but I haven't figured it
out yet.
References